This paper reports the experience of teachers within the field of healthcare administration and management in the process of building and developing practices of participative and meaningful learning, which took place in the second semester of 2010, with 23 students in an undergraduate nursing program in the city of Curitiba, Paraná. Strategies for group work and dramatization through role playing were chosen, since these facilitate participation and motivation for learning. The healthcare system, healthcare planning and managerial functions were the themes defined for constituting the practice. The learning experience allowed managerial functions to be performed in a real and concrete situation, with meaning for all participants. The teachers' role in constructing learning practices was highlighted, with participative methods that required time, motivation, dedication, communication and, especially, changes to their work processes.
Nursing education; Participative methods; Administration and management in nursing